The Bitterest Taste
by Badwolfandbalthazar
Summary: What if Ed survived and left Carol and Sophia after Merle unleashed the Walkers at their camp outside Atlanta? Now in Woodbury, he hears news of that same group bunkered down in a prison and decides it's time to forcibly take her back, or else. A multi-chapter Caryl story.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Chapter Four of "Begin Again" is being written I promise :). But this idea wouldn't let me go so I had to get this out. After seeing the previews for this Sunday, I wondered what it would be like if Ed was causing all this commotion as a revenge against Carol thing. Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

**The Bitterest Taste: Chapter One**

_What if Ed survived and left Carol and Sophia after Merle unleashed the Walkers at their camp outside Atlanta? Now in Woodbury, he hears news of that same group bunkered down in a prison and decides it's time to forcibly take her back, or else. A multi-chapter Caryl story._

TWD

It had been months since she'd seen him. What felt like a lifetime. Before the CDC, before the farm, before the winter, before the prison.

_"What you think you're worth this shit, you selfish bitch?!" he screamed at her, splitting opened the fresh cuts on his face from the beating Shane had given him._

_After a night so terrible, so terrifying, Carol almost couldn't stand this. So many people had died, so many still in shock at the sudden appearance of tens of Walkers. But this on top of all that was proving too much for her. She just couldn't fight it anymore.  
_

_The tent was getting smaller and smaller as she was pushed back in the corner, trying to wait out this outburst and praying her dear Sophia couldn't hear from here she was with Lori. Roughly he stepped up to her, grabbing the back of her neck hard, pulling her in against him._

_"I give you a week without me before you put a bullet in your head you pathetic cow." he spat, eyes glowing threateningly. Like if she didn't, he would._

_"Hey!" the angry voice of Shane cut through the air, the zipper of the tent opening and what felt like every man in the camp flooded in. His and Rick's faces were just about as furious as Ed's._

_"Get your hands off her!" Shane barked, ripping him away from her, despite his determined grip. Deep scratch marks cut across the back of her neck and down her chest, Ed cursing up something foul as the men pulled him kicking and screaming from the tent._

_Carol stood for a moment, tears brimming her eyes before she ran out after them._

_"Please, it's fine!" she said, worried what Shane or the others would do to him. Ed and Sophia was all she had from her life before all this, they were all she knew._

_Rick, Shane, Morales and T-Dog pulled her husband to the dirt road, throwing him harshly down onto it._

_"We heard you're hollering, your threats, so why don't you make good on them ?" Rick said, blocking Ed from Carols view. Neither of the ex-cops were going to back down to this._

_"You fucking bastards, you think she'll survive without me? Ain't no one gonna look after you bitch!" he yelled at her._

_He pulled himself up, spitting blood that trickled into his mouth from his split lip. His we're teeth red and grotesque, glinting in the firelight._

_"The world ain't got time for your kind so go ahead and take your wailin' ass somewhere else." Shane said, fingers brushing the hilt of his gun strapped to hip, eyes hot_

_Carol clutched her hands to her chest, watching as the man spat in her direction, before turning around and walking away into the darkness._

_Carol watched in horror as his figure faded in the darkness. He didn't say goodbye. Not even to Sophia. Just left them like it was the easiest thing in the world. She opened her mouth to call him back, but her words were caught in her throat, her emotions choking them out._

_"If you even try to come back here," Shane yelled, making everyone shift uncomfortably. No one had been so loud. "We won't be so nice, you hear?"_

_Eventually, after some time had passed and no one caught a glimpse of any dark figures coming back, everyone drifted back to the devastation and heartbreak that was their little camp._

_She stood motionless, looking out and trying to will Ed to come back to her as a man walked up beside her. She remembered vaguely that the man's name was Daryl, though they hadn't said a single word to each other._

_"Don' worry." He offered, eyes following hers out to the darkness. "You ain't need him to look after you. You an' yer girl'll be looked after."_

_She turned to him, eyes red and cheeks tear stained. He didn't wait for a reply, just gave her a nod and walked off._

Not a few minutes before her revelation did Maggie up at the watch tower start yelling out. As everyone broke through the prison threshold to the outside, they saw them. Two deep green army trucks complete with men hanging onto the back and sides, guns waving and faces none too kind.

Well that had kicked everyone into gear and fast as every body ran back inside for weapons, Rick hollering orders fast and decisive.

Carol had been ordered to go to the watchtower with Maggie and Glenn, while Rick, Daryl and T-Dog walked up to the newcomers. The rest of group were to stand in the courtyard, guns ready if they were needed. That was the plan til she saw an oddly familiar man step out of one of the trucks.

She stopped, confused for a moment at why he caught her eye. Squinting in the late afternoon sun, Carol walked closer to get a better view.

"Get yer ass in gear." Daryl said, walking up beside her, giving her hip a push with his hand in the direction of the water tower. "They're comin' out!" he yelled out Rick who started running up to their direction.

"Oh my god." Carol whispered. She recognized the man. It was Ed. "It's him."

Daryl gave her a look, unconsciously stepping in front of her for her protection, squinting to get a better look. "Oh shit."

She took off running towards the man, not believing what she was seeing at all. Carol heard Daryl swearing ferociously after her, the sounds of Rick, Daryl and T-Dog's feet catching up to her.

Fifty feet from the inner fence, Daryl grabbed and roughly yanked back her arm, moving to step in front of her, crossbow trained and ready to kill.

Rick took point, gun at the ready as well, with T-Dog stepping up beside Daryl.

The memory of the night he left flashed in her mind, everything so vividly clear. And there now he stood, nothing separating them but some land and the prison fences. Well, and Daryl, who had one hand gripping her arm in case she got it in her head to run up to him, with the other tightly gripping his crossbow trained at her husband's head.

Minus the bruising and blood, he looked the exact same, except a lot more threatening. That and the fact that he was with several men packing some serious weaponry were not reassuring.

"Lucy, I'm home!" he laughed, the smallest tinge of malice in his eyes. No one else might've seen it, but Carol had plenty of times. Daryl shifted forward at that remark, riled up and moving to block Carol from his eye line even more. Apparently she wasn't the only one to see through his words.

Ed brazenly stepped away from one of the army trucks they had shown up in, sauntering almost lazily towards the fence.

"Whatcha got behind your back, hoss?" Daryl called out her husband. The smirks of the five other men around Ed instantly put everyone on edge.

"What, you with this redneck trash now?" Ed said, titling his head and looking to Carol. "I'm your damn husband, and you're fucking some back woods, inbred son of a bitch, are you?"

Before a pissing match to end all was unleashed from either side, Rick raised his hand, face set in determined lines. "Hey! Let's just cut the crap and get down to it. What are you doing here on our land, Ed?"

"Come to get what's mine." Was all he said, not needing to be any clearer what "mine" meant.

"You piece 'a shit, you think ya'll can beat on her, ditch her, then steal her back? You got another thing comin' like my arrow up yer ass."

"Stop," Carol said softly. Daryl glanced back, a look of disbelief crossing his face. Carol gave a reassuring nod to man still holding tight to her, and slowly he dropped his hand away, uncertain.

Carol looked to Ed, speaking up louder. "I'm not comin' with you Ed. And you all aren't coming in here either."

She wasn't the same person as when Ed last saw her. She had changed. Gotten tougher and was able to hold her own now. Ed wasn't going to bully her into something and she wasn't going to let him bully anyone else.

Rick turned back to the men, giving them a shrug. "You heard her. There's nothing else you could possibly say, so I would get on back to where you came from. Before my people start getting a nervous trigger finger."

At that Daryl tapped his crossbow audibly.

But this whole thing wasn't right. Ed was never so nonchalant. She stepped closer to Daryl, whispering low in his ear. "Something's off here. I can just feel it."

"Tell me about it." Daryl whispered back, eyes never leaving Ed. "This feels all kinds of wrong. He ain't even mention Sophia."

Ed whistled, bring Carol's attention back to him. "I figured you'd be difficult, so I thought I better come prepared to do the same."

Finally revealing what was behind him, Carol was a little underwhelmed when she saw an axe. The group stood a little confused, but not backing down.

"We'll just hang around for a while," he finished. "'Til you change your minds or we make you."

He directed that last part at Carol, making her feel a flash of cold run through her veins. She hid that icy fear from him as his group stepped back into their vehicles.

Terror pulled through again when they heard Carl's yelling voice behind them in the courtyard followed by rapid fire gunshots. "Walkers! Dad, Walkers!"

Whipping around the four of them bolted full speed back to the prison, forgetting the men.

"Carl! Lori!" Rick yelled, running to get to his family as Walker after Walker streamed into the courtyard. Shots rang out from the watch tower as Glenn and Maggie fired, everyone now suddenly fighting for their lives.

Ed had cut the chain that kept the Walker out. That's how this happened, it must have been. Rushing back to the scattered and terrified group, tears fell at the feeling of an overwhelming sense of guilt hit her.

"Get back in the cells! Get back in the cells!" Daryl screamed to her and others, as the scene in front of her broke out into all out war. Frantic and engulfed by the feeling that this was somehow her fault, Carol tried to focus her mind, reaching to grab Lori as the two crossed paths. Holding on to each, they ran as fast as Lori could go to get to the safety of their cell block. They were just steps behind Hershel, leaning heavily on Beth, as both Rick and Daryl covered them, a shot ringing out every second.

She heard screams and yelling behind her, wondering desperately if anyone was hurt but not daring to turn around, merely steps from the cell block door.

If anyone died or got hurt it would be on her hands. She knew Ed wouldn't stop here. However he had found her didn't matter. They only thing she knew was that now that he had, he would be back again and again until he won. Until she left with him.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Hey ya'll. Thank you for the reviews! My apologies for any confusion, poor Sophia is still dead in this story :(_

The Bitterest Taste: Chapter Two

Chaos. They had been looking to retreat into a safe haven, but found their cell block overrun. The mad, chaotic dash to stay alive turned into a frenzied mess. No one knew where was safe or where to turn. Somewhere along the lines everyone was forced apart, splitting up to face this storm alone. Turning almost every corner meant a good chance colliding into a swarm of Walkers. Carol had one gun, few bullets and within minutes was completely alone.

Bolting down a hall, Carol couldn't focus as the emergency lights flickered and an eerily off-pitch alarm sounded, pounding against her ear drums.

_She had to get somewhere safe, she had to get somewhere safe, she had to get somewhere safe_... She turned the corner, needing to find someplace to hold up and fast.

Crashing into the fleshy side of the Walker, Carol screamed at the top of her lungs in sync with the alarm, both bodies crashing hard to the floor. The Walker underneath her lunged forward towards her face, as Carol threw herself back, firing shots at its head. Somehow one reached its target with the heavy sticky-sounding thud of its body hitting the ground hard.

Shaken and with adrenalin pumping so hard Carol could practically taste it on her tongue, she picked up running down the corridor. Her mantra changed as fear overwhelmed her: _this was all her fault, this was all her fault, this was all her fault_...

Gun shots- a lot of them- rang out clear and close by, making Carol skid to a stop. Turning in their direction she took off towards the sound, hoping.

TWD

Hours passed without seeing another living soul and far too many dead ones. Gun shots always ringing in the distance, it was impossible to figure out where they were coming from in such a hollow place. Every sound carried. And she had never been in this deep into the prison, not knowing where any of the corridors led too. Like a labyrinth with no markers and no exits, Carol spent hours wandering fruitlessly or running petrified for her life.

Her thoughts went only to finding someone. Anyone. She was alive. There was a good chance that they could have been too. Maybe making their way back to the courtyard, or finding someone else, or hiding somewhere safe. She would settle for any one of those options, desperate to get out of this maze.

The man that had done this, her deranged husband... Well this wasn't the same Ed that had left her all the time ago. This world had changed him. Turned into more vengeful and malevolent than he ever had been.

And she did not for one moment believe that this would be the last of the dangers he forced on them.

Physically exhausted and emotionally drained, Carol opened yet another door, hearing nothing and seeing nothing through the dirty glass but blackness. Pushing the heavy, creaking door opened, she almost collapsed on the spot as she stepped through to the other side.

A heavenly blast of cool air flooded her, telling her she had made it outside. And looking around she saw them. Him.

Forgetting her exhaustion, she took off running, biting her tongue to keep from yelling out.

A distance away in the familiar courtyard was Daryl, Rick, Glenn and two of the prisoners, probably having gotten mixed up in the madness as well. Everyone's head snapped over when they heard her running.

Daryl jogged towards her, stopping when he realized he saw who it was. Carol, with her cheeks tear stained and emotions pulling her facial expressions every which way only remembered to slow her pace just steps before colliding into him. The momentum forced him back a step, arms folding around her to steady them both.

She'd been like his charge. All these months, since he first told her that she and Sophia would be looked after when Ed left. They had both lost someone that night. It had united them. Since then he had looked after her, and she had cared for him. He was the closed thing she had in this world left.

But the difference between them now was she always knew through all this that he would be fine, that he would make it if no one else did. She was the one whose chance of survival was terribly slim at best. She felt his hands tighten around her waist and pull through her hair, gripping it tightly. She could almost feel his emotions seep onto her skin with his body heat: the worry, the anxiety and uncertainty, the relief at feeling her pressed to him.

"You hurt or what?" he asked, reluctantly releasing her and stepping back, eyes going anywhere but hers.

"Yes." She said, so miserably that if she had cared enough she would have called it pathetic. That changed his stance instantly, stepping closer and looking at her urgently.

"Are they... Did they..." She couldn't finish, breath catching in her chest.

He understood her, gesturing with his crossbow down towards the field in front of the fences. She followed along wordlessly.

Far enough away from the others, they stopped and she braced herself.

"We can't find the others, been all up and down the place." He started, watching her carefully. Carol stood still, needing to hear it all and take it all in first. "Got the cons t' help us map out the place."

"Who?" she said. "...Everyone?"

"Nah, but most. Maggie, Lori, Carl, Hershel, an' Beth."

Carol noticed immediately who was left out. Her voice dropped to a whisper, a swelling in her chest beginning to stifle her words as her emotions began to bubble and boil over. "What about T-Dog?"

His head bent down, eyes taking a moment to reach hers again. Little to nothing about Daryl had ever been tentative, making her tense even more so. "T-Dog... He got bit... Walkers took him out."

Carol inhaled so deep and so sharply for a moment her lungs burned, furious. "No... no, no, no! Daryl!" Carol sobbed, pressing her hand to forehead hard, feeling numb before it all suddenly crashed down around her._ He was dead. It was her fault._

"I did it," she gasped, tears flowing and body physically aching from causing this. "This is my fault, I did this. I killed him."

"You did shit." He said angry walking right up to her. "What, you think goin' with 'em would'a done a damn thing? You think if ya'd gone, the chain they broken would'a fix itself or some shit? The Geeks 'a walked back?"

She didn't hear him, eyes moving around frantic amidst her tears. Grabbing her shoulders he forced her to look at him. His words came softer now, pained at the anguish on her face and seeing just how deep her belief in her involvement ran. "This ain't your fault. You didn't do this. That son'v'bitch did."

But Carol couldn't believe it, even if he did. She shook him off, running away. What about the others: Carl, Lori, Maggie, Beth, Hershel... Carol could practically feel the blood on her hands, dripping from her skin warm and terrifying, like she had taken their lives herself.

She had to get it off. It was all over her and she had to get it off. Gasping and wringing her hand Carol began scratching, pulling her skin desperate in the darkness to get rid of the unseen blood that stained her.

Daryl grabbed her from behind, gripping her wrists tightly as she struggled against him, fighting his hold on her. "No, no, no, no!"

His arms pinned her own, the pressure of his much stronger frame taking her breath away. "Goin' shit crazy ain't goin' to help get anyone else back. You feel guilty? Shit, everyone does for somethin'. Get your shit together an' do somethin' about it!"

She kept struggling for a while, needing the time to let his words and sentiment set in. Very slowly she tried to let reality take the majority hold again instead of panic.

There was no news on the others. Everyone could be fine. Maybe locked up in a cell or hiding down in a different cell block. For heaven's sake, she had done it, run away and fight all day and she made it out. She made it back. They could too. Carol tried not to let a sob escape her lips, thinking about poor T-Dog and the alternative, knowing that the chances of survival were not good.

Her stillness made his hold slacken a bit and his touch turned from aggressive to something a great deal gentler. "The others are already gone to search and get this place secure again."

Carol nodded. She would help. They would get them back. She had to help.

The two walked up to the courtyard, Carol crossing her arms tight across her chest. She wouldn't let this beat her. She wouldn't let _him_ get the better of her. She had been strong for so long, had gotten through so much. Ed had said she wouldn't make it a week before putting a bullet in her head. Well she had made it and proved so much. She wouldn't let her panic or let her heart stop her from carrying on and getting the rest of the group back, safe.

Halfway across the courtyard, the two stopped short when the cell block door swung opened, several unfamiliar figures spilling out. Her heart holding on by a string, Carol knew what she had been fearing all day was about to come to pass.

Ed walked up, his gun, along with the guns of nine other men, were quickly trained on the pair. Even with the odds against them, Daryl didn't back down. His hand went to Carol's wrist, moving to press his back into her chest. Concealed from her husband behind him, she rested her head against his back, trying to hold it together. Trying to remember that confidence she had just felt.

"Now I said we'd hang around." She heard him walk closer and felt Daryl's muscles under her tighten even more. "So, you can stay here and we'll kill ya, or you can come with us for a ride back to our little camp. The rest of your group picked a ride. A good choice, don't you think?"

Carol breathed, taking in those few moments before her world plunged into chaos again. Ed walked over and she heard the rest of the men creep up on them too. He walked around Daryl, giving him a wide berth, and tilted his head looking at Carol.

The last thing she would do was kill anyone else that day, especially not the only constant companion she had had all these months. She's go with Ed and they would stay alive that much longer.

She didn't bother stepping out from behind Daryl, savouring what was probably the last contact she would have with him. "Okay, I'll go."

_A/N: Featured in this chapter is Carol channeling her inner Lady Macbeth. I try to keep my Shakespeare references to a minimum but sometimes I just can't help it. And I think everyone at some point deserves the chance to freak out over something that got out of control so this was Carol's chance. My apologies if this brought back painful "Killer Within" memories._

_And this chapter was such a pain to write. What do you think?_


	3. Chapter 3

**The Bitterest Taste: Chapter Three**

TWD

For a few moments she felt the stifling fear of claustrophobia gripping her. Clenching her fists tightly Carol focused her mind on the pain of her finger nails digging into her palms.

Voices came from in front of her, low and rough. She strained to get a look through her the blindfold covering her sight line, but it was pointless. In the dark of the van, she knew it wouldn't work. Nothing she could have seen would have helped or made worse the situation, but that wasn't really why she tried. Carol just wanted confirmation that Ed wasn't in there with her. Again a feeling of panic welled up in her, the gravity of the situation hitting her once more. Added to the unknown of what was coming, it was crushing.

But she had said she wouldn't let him win. And despite how grave this situation was she wasn't going to give him or the voices up in front of her the satisfaction of watching her shake in fear. Even if she was using every bit of self control she had not too. She kept her body still in its cramped position and face stoic.

After the voices carried on talking quietly to themselves, Carol swallowed, cautiously trying to keep her own voice as soft as possible. She just had to be sure.

"Daryl?" she whispered, no louder than a breath of air.

"'S okay." came his voice in response. The fear and anxiety suddenly dimmed as she felt a wave of relief spread through her. He was probably no more than an inch away, just behind her.

She heard shuffling before feeling something warm move up against her back. She moved her tied hands across the scratchy fabric floor, reaching out to grab what she assumed was the bottom of his shirt. Unapologetically she hung on to it like her life depended on it.

They sat like that, silent and waiting in a ride that seemed to end far too fast. As they stopped her heart rate skyrocketed, leaning back away from the doors and into Daryl as much as possible.

The cringe worthy pitch of the door hinge sounded, the van door opening with a loud slam. Rough hands grabbed her under her arms, pulling her up and out of the van.

"Ya'll best stay quiet." said a voice to them as Carol got her footing on the ground.

With eyes covered and hands tied, all she could rely on was her hearing. Listening she heard a muffled reply from Daryl to the man that had spoken, followed swiftly by sounds of a struggle and muffled groans. A moment later Daryl knocked against her ankle, being pulled out and dropped to the ground. She desperately wished she could see him, help him somehow but all she could do was pray they kept them together. Anything else she could struggle through.

Someone gripped her arm and forcefully dragged her forward. She resisted and dug her heels in as much as she could, hearing Daryl do the same albeit more violently.

"Stop," her voice said without her permission, the skin on her arm being so tightly grabbed she thought her arm would snap off.

Suddenly her world spun, the ground coming up to met her, hard. Pain flooded her dazed senses, the warmth and metallic taste of blood drizzling into her mouth and down her chin. She laid on the ground, gasping at the feeling of being punched full force. If her lip wasn't already swelling she would have bit down on it to stop her from calling out. She certainly didn't need to tell Daryl anything about what had happened. Clearly he knew what those sounds meant as she heard him struggle furiously against their captors.

"Now now, no more of that." came a different voice. Calmer, cooler, and more authoritative. "There's no need to hit the lady, especially one of our guests."

She heard the man step up, then bend down right in front of her.

"Welcome to Woodbury."

Again she was pulled up and again dragged, no explanation, no sight to guild her, no telling where the others were.

Stifling the urge to spit, lest even that was too much noise, Carol walked on, hyperaware of the sound of Daryl behind her.

Eventually, after walking for several minutes on what she assumed was a paved road, they forced them to stop. She felt a pulled across her eyes then felt the fabric covering them fall away, revealing her surroundings.

Quickly she looked around, trying to take as much in, but stopping when she turned and saw Daryl, face looking probably even worse than hers must have. His face flooded red when he saw her, eyes livid.

Before either of them could do or say anything they would regret, they were pushed into the building they were standing in front of. It looked like a barn or sorts, but something much more industrial.

Suddenly her stomach dropped clean out of her. It reminded her of a slaughterhouse. Her arms started going numb as all the blood rushed to her chest, anxiety raging underneath her skin.

Under the careful watch of six guys (one leading, one holding her, two holding Daryl and two at the back), they walked down several dark corridors before stopping, the man in front unlocking a large metal door.

Bracing herself, Carol was pushed through the door and walked to the middle of the hall, stopping in front of another metal door, this one looking oddly similar to her cell door in the prison.

Before opening hers up, the man opened the one beside her. The men holding him not so gently shoved Daryl inside, locking it up quick.

The man took out another key as he walked to her door, unlocked it, and she was forced inside, the grip of the man dragging her through all this was still on her.

Looking to her right, she saw metal and iron bars and rails, seeing Daryl pressed up against them watching her intently. She could see him by way of emergency lighting, with a place like this probably having some sort of generator. At least she would be able to see, hear and talk with him, and that calmed her slightly. But in the middle of the room was a large steel table, bolted to the ground. Instinctively she pulled back away from it, the panic welling up in her even more than before.

"Better lock her down. This one ain't built for something so small." said the leader, pulling out handcuffs from his back pocket.

"No," she said, shaking her head like it would help and trying to get out of the steel grip of the man holding fast. They paid no heed to her as she pushed and shoved against the men converge on her. "Stop!"

She heard the violent curses and protests from Daryl as she thrashed and fought against them. They grabbed her legs and arms, lifting her up onto the table and pinning her down with all their weight. She gasped and exclaimed in pain as they held her while one handcuffed her to the table leg.

Without a word the men released her and walked out, Carol not watching them leave. Putting her free hand over her eyes she breathed deeply, while the sounds of her door then the one at the end of the hall were being locked tight. Distantly she heard her husband's name, any sliver of positivity now completely dashed with that one syllable reminder.

There was a lot of silence for a long time as she lied there on the cold steel table, trying to calm herself down. Call her crazy but having a group for of men kidnap her and chain her down wasn't a comforting experience. Especially when it had hardly been even necessary; one man could have done it easily. But she put that out of her mind, trying to calm herself. Every once and a while she heard tinkering, hammering and pounding from Daryl, but not a word was spoken between them.

Eventually she opened her eyes again and swallowed, sitting up and fighting the ache of bruises all over her arms and legs as they began to form.

She rubbed her neck and swung her legs over the side, immediately looking to Daryl. He was sitting crouched but alert in the corner closest to her and farthest from the door, eyes glued to hers under a steady brow.

"So, this was some kind of holding stall?" she said slowly, her voice small in the large space.

"No eight hundred pound animal coulda' gotten through. Doubt we could." He said, then pointed to the handcuffs holding her. "Not with those on, at least."

She looked down to the cuffs, metal rattling against metal as she pulled them up as far as the small chain would allow. She looked around her, trying to see if there was something she could reach to maybe try and pry them off or pick the lock. But the table she was on was bolted to the ground in the dead in the centre of the large and sterile room. This room was definitely different from the one Daryl was in: his was smaller, darker, and much more cage like. Hers was a mix of cage and operating room. She really couldn't think of a worse combination.

The wall on her left had larger bars that were farther apart. She understood why the men had cuffed her; she probably could've squeezed through those if absolutely necessary.

"Well, we gotta get out some way. Anything I can use to pick the lock or unscrew the table with?"

"Nah, this place's empty." Silence fell between the again.

"Ed will come." Her eyes snapped to his, mind turning. "And then we'll get out."

"What, yer gonna ask him nicely?" he scoffed. "I'll be testin' the strength of these bars if he comes down here. Doubt even they could hold me, 'f I was angry enough."

Carol almost smiled. "I doubt much could hold you when you're angry enough. And he will come and we'll get out. Find the others if they're here and get back home."

"Some grand ass plans for not having a clue how ta do it."

She didn't respond, just looked at him. She wouldn't let him pay the price for her choice. She would do literally anything to get out. The full gravity of what the meant made her breathe and pulse quicken anxiously. And she knew Daryl would be plenty angry if he had an idea of what she was willing to do to get him out. So she kept her mouth shut.

It was a few hours later, in what Carol assumed was now the morning, when she heard footsteps. Daryl stood up from lying on the floor, walking soundlessly to the door. He would be ready to pounce if anyone walked in. But Carol laid on the table, both hands raised above her head. She made no move to stand.

Daryl looked to her, pulling a face as he got down low against the wall by the door. But she made no response.

She was looking at him when the lock on her door sounded, his face going from focused to panicked. Very slowly the door creaked opened.

She heard the slow and steady foot falls as the person approached. Carol didn't look up until they were beside her.

It was Ed, smiling down at her, hips pressing right up against the table.

Carol looked up at him and simply smiled.

_A/N:_

_Hola chickas. Sorry for the delay—I'm currently moving which is really time consuming, and on top of that joy I've been pretty sick the past few days._

_As you can tell, I used the same setup as the scene of Michonne and Andrea riding into Woodbury._

_I have what goes down in the next chapter planned, so you'll get that soon. I could have gone on in this chapter but it would have been hard to find an appropriate break if I had._

_Let me know what you thought about this chapter three! If you read I would really appreciate it if you reviewed!_


	4. Chapter 4

**The Bitterest Taste: Chapter Four**

TWD

It wasn't until she smiled that his stomach sank and eyes brimmed with fury. _T__he hell was she doing?_

Ed stood with his back to Daryl, but he knew from Ed's expression walking in that he was smiling down on her too. And it wasn't any comforting or reassuring in the slightest. It made his skin crawl, the way he looked at Carol.

Distantly he heard the man who let Ed in lock up the hallway door and walk away, leaving the three of them there alone.

"Hey!" he yelled, pacing back and forth, knuckles knocking against the metal. "Hey! The hell you think yer doin'? Hey! I'm talkin' to you!"

Daryl banged his fists loudly against the bars, the hollow metallic sound droning through the Ed didn't look up and Carol didn't pay any attention to him at all.

His stomach dropped lower. What was going to happen- whatever she was thinking of doing- he couldn't do a damn thing to help or stop it. Ed could string her from the ceiling and all Daryl would be able to do was watch.

"Shoulda come with me, avoided all this trouble." he said. It was clear in his expression and tone he wasn't sorry at all.

"I know it now. You were right." she said softly, looking up at him eyes wide with a hint of apology in them. "I shoulda gone with you. I was wrong, Ed."

"You ain't been right once your entire life." he said cruelly. "You've always been a useless piece 'a-"

"You shut yer god damn mouth, you son'v'bitch!" Daryl yelled over him. Daryl saw the hilt of a knife at the small of his back and wanted nothing more than to plunge it right through Ed's head. Ed thought she was dirt and just for that Daryl would gladly put him down with no more thought than he did a Walker.

Being ignored and completely helpless to do anything drove Daryl furiously crazy, and Ed knew it. His frustration was coming off in such thick waves that only the dead wouldn't have noticed. So again he was ignored.

"The man in charge here'd have my hide if he knew I was down here. Lucky you're guard there owed me one. I figured I just had to come down. I just knew you'd be missin' me, ain't you?" he leered.

For the first time, Carol cast her eyes down, almost like she was shy. Ed picked up in it too. And the fact that she didn't answer the question.

"But you came down to see me anyways," Carol said. "Even if they didn't want you too... So you'll stay? At least for a bit?"

His head tilted, analyzing the wife he hadn't seen in months. He walked down to the end of the table, leaning over her and putting his hands on either side of her knees, forcing her feet apart to make room for him.

"What you playin' at?" he asked.

Her response came after a few moments. She lay there staring at him as she found the courage to speak.

"Please don't go." she whispered. "I'm... I'm alone and scared, Ed. You're all I ever got and I just don't want you to leave. Please."

She moved her feet to hook around him, biting her lip with pleading eyes. The whole thing made Daryl sick.

Ed straightened up. "I ain't got no use for you no more." But his eyes lingered, roaming up her body.

"Please," she said quietly. Her body almost reacted to his stare, moving and shifting as his gaze moved. Her legs pulled him closer, handcuffs clattering against the metal as she moved down.

The weight of what was going to happen hit him like bricks. Suddenly his fury and body went into high gear, slamming and kicking and throwing his body against the metal bars to get to her. Pain erupted as his body made contact again and again, practically steaming against his rage-burnt skin.

Daryl could see even from where he standing that Ed's eyes flashed hungry. He could have been the last man on earth and no woman would've given the brutal man a second thought, unless it was to get rid of him. And here was Carol offering herself up to him, for what? Sex in exchange for trust? Maybe giving her freedom enough to slip out of there? Whatever the hell she wanted wasn't worth having to degrade and whore herself out to god damn _Ed Peletier_.

"No!" he screamed, strained as he threw himself against the metal. He punched and kicked and screamed, blinded by panic.

"We'll let the redneck pervert watch than." Ed said with a sick smile. "I got you now. He ain't. I'll show him that."

He took her by the ankles and pulled her down, a slice of red appearing at her bound wrist as the cuffs held her fast against his pull. But her expression didn't change, just the pace of her chest as her breath increased. His hands moved rough and tight up her legs, digging into her skin harshly.

"I'll rip your damn throat out!" he screamed, his words furious, pained and useless. "Get yer damn hands off her ya son'v'bitch!"

Daryl stopped fighting the bars, his hands cut and bruised, looking and pacing around the cell desperate to find something that he had missed before. Something that could get him out to save her from having to do this.

He heard a sharp intake of breathed and his eyes snapped to the woman in the next cell. Ed's large frame was overtop of hers, crushing the small woman underneath with his weight. He was completely uncaring as his hands roamed and dug into places that made Daryl feel more murderous and more heartbroken than he had ever in his life felt before.

He couldn't watch, couldn't look away, _couldn't just let this happen_.

A desperate powerlessness went from taking full control of his entire body, to suddenly vanishing, being replaced by a numbing shock in a split second.

A small hand appeared at the small of Ed's back, his body grinding up impatiently against her as he worked to get his pants off. That slender hand reached for the hilt of the knife, pulling it free from its sheath. Daryl watched as that hand moved faster than Ed could react, the blade plunging through the back of the mans' head.

His body convulse for a moment, then slowly it shifted to the side, slipping off the table and hitting the ground with a definitive thud.

As Ed's dead body moved off of her Carol moved away to the farthest point from him.

For the first time in a while, everything was absolutely silent. Carol's back was to him, her body braced and hunched as she sat motionless on the table. Daryl stood motionless as well, feeling even more helpless than before. This was something he never wanted. He would have killed a hundred people if it meant saving her the pain of having to kill someone herself. He had wanted so much to protect her, and today he had done anything but. The gravity of what she had done slowly began to creep in.

Apologies, fury, shock and worry were stuck in his throat as they both stood frozen.

"Carol," he said, blocking out as much conflicting emotions as he could manage. "Carol, you still with me?"

But she didn't reply, didn't give a hint that she had even heard him.

A few moments later she turned, eyes never making contact and her head down. She didn't say a word, just swung her legs over the table and crouched down on the floor with a bloody and dripping knife still in her hand. Her cuffs rattled as they slid down the table leg and as fast as she could she got to work.

Taking the tip of the knife Carol used it as a screwdriver, trying to unbolt the table leg and get herself free. He cringed, unconsciously stepping forward as the drenched knife slipped from her hands, clanging loudly and splattering tiny drops of blood to the cement. It was several moments before a slow and deliberate hand reached out and took up the handle again.

Daryl had begun pacing by the time she had gotten the leg free.

"Throw me the knife," he said to her. "I'll get us unlocked and outta here. Carol? Carol!"

But she didn't reply. Instead she braced her back against the underside of the table, trying to force it up just enough to get space for her to slip the handcuff under. He could see the pain creep onto her face as her small frame threatened to buckle under the table's weight.

After several attempts she managed to shuffle the cuffs under the leg. He stood at attention, expecting her to walk to him or to the door, but instead she went to the far side of the room.

"Damn it Carol, you can't fit." he said, slamming his hand on the bars. The bars on the far side of the room were farther apart, but as she walked up to them and tried to force her body through the poles, he doubted she would make it. Just end up crushing herself.

Daryl could only watch and cringe as Carol screamed, forcing her body through the small opening.

"Shit." he muttered, the first in a string of curses as he look at her. She had made it through, curling up on the floor in the next cell. Her arms were folded up across her ribs, head hunched over and breath ragged. He could see the sweat roll down her skin and it was the only kind of movement she made for a few minutes.

Agonizingly he braced himself as she got up, going to the wall of bars that led out to the hall. He didn't look at her, but couldn't help but hear as it happened again. It felt like an hour before there was silence again, the only sound being the soft and quick sound of her breathing.

It was many minutes before he heard muffled shuffling.

A close and high pitched creak echoed, and Daryl moved to the door. His anxiety and impatience increased with every slow squeak. If only the god damn hinges had been on the inside of the door that would've cut her pain down in half and Daryl could've actually done a damn thing to help her. He continued to turn every hurt and fraught emotion in anger, knowing how to deal with that one.

The metallic creaking stopped and was followed by a light tap on the door. Daryl took that as his cue and braced himself against the door, pushing to pry it loose. After several attempts the door began to give way, the bottom of the frame screeching along the concrete floor as it opened up into the hall.

As Daryl slide through the small opening, he spotted Carol, sitting curled up on the floor against the wall. Breaking free from the cell, he immediately went to her and crouched down. Her frame was huddled in a tired fetal position, head bent low and arms clinging to her chest.

He reached out his hand towards her face, desperate to see her. He wanted to say something, anything that would make all of this disappear or better or easier for her. He wanted her to look at him, give him that small reassuring smile Carol did when she knew he needed it. Wanted her to stand up, unscarred and able to carry on being the enduring woman this world had made her into. Ed had spent years beating her down, and even if she had wanted to kill him at points, doing it must have been something beyond what Daryl could grasp. And he selfishly didn't want Ed to take her away from him like the guilt of Ed's death would.

But he swallowed his emotions down, kicking himself in self-loathing as he scanned the hallway. It was time for him to suck it up and stop being such a gutless pansy. She had gotten them free, now it was time for him to get them out.

Despite what a moment ago he had wanted to say, he settled with something he could put into words. "Don't care if this is hell itself, I'm gettin' us outta here right now."

Carefully he put one arm around her and one under her knees, lifting her up. He thought he heard her breath catch, but she made no protest so he settled her gently against his chest.

He had no weapons, no idea where they were or where the others in their group were or how many they were up against, but hell or high water he was getting them out of there.

"You did all the hard part; from here it'll be easy. You just relax." he whispered.

And she gave no reply.

_A/N:_

_Hey hey. Firstly, next chapter will be in Carol's POV, so you can see what's going on with her. I switched to Daryl's POV for this chapter because of reasons._

_Secondly I haven't forgotten about Begin Again. These chapters are only half the length of BA and I am really busy with moving and being sick (STILL) so I'd rather get something out than keep ya'll waiting forever for an update. I do plan on working on BA tomorrow though!_

_This chapter was pretty terrible to write, for many reasons and I'm sure you can guess some. If you read, please review and tell me what you think of it! I'd really appreciate hearing your feedback._

_- J_


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